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Heterogeneous nucleation of ice particles on glassy aerosols under cirrus conditions
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Heterogeneous nucleation of ice particles on glassy aerosols under cirrus conditions
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Heterogeneous nucleation of ice particles on glassy aerosols under cirrus conditions
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Journal Article
Heterogeneous nucleation of ice particles on glassy aerosols under cirrus conditions
2010
Overview
Ice clouds in the tropical tropopause layer have a key role in dehydrating air that is entering the stratosphere. Cloud-chamber measurements suggest that their high humidity can be explained if heterogeneous ice nucleation on glassy aerosols is a significant nucleation mechanism in this region.
Ice clouds in the tropical tropopause layer play a key role in dehydrating air as it enters the stratosphere
1
,
2
. However,
in situ
measurements show that water vapour within these clouds is unexpectedly supersaturated
3
,
4
,
5
; normally the growth of ice crystals rapidly quenches supersaturation
3
. The high in-cloud humidity may be related to the low number of ice crystals found in these clouds
4
,
6
, but low ice number densities are inconsistent with standard models of cirrus cloud formation involving homogeneous freezing of liquid aerosols
7
. Aqueous aerosols rich in organic matter are ubiquitous in the atmosphere
8
,
9
, and under cirrus conditions they are known to become glassy
10
,
11
, that is, amorphous, non-crystalline solids. Here we report experiments in a cloud simulation chamber that demonstrate heterogeneous nucleation of ice on glassy solution droplets. Cirrus residues measured
in situ
showed ice nuclei rich in oxidized organic matter
12
, consistent with heterogeneous nucleation on glassy aerosols. In addition, using a one-dimensional cirrus model, we show that nucleation on glassy aerosols may explain low ice crystal numbers and high in-cloud humidity in the tropical tropopause layer. We propose that heterogeneous nucleation on glassy aerosols is an important mechanism for ice nucleation in the tropical tropopause layer.
